A new Studio Ghibli production leads to long-time director Hayao Miyazaki to reverse his retirement decision

Stop charging your glasses to the career of acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki; he’s no longer retired according to reports and we can all thank a new Studio Ghibli production for the about-turn. Just don’t ask what that production is - yet.

As his latest film, at one stage meant to be his swan song, ‘The Boy and The Heron,’ arrives at the BFI London International Film Festival this month after being warmly received since its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, Studio Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki revealed that Miyazaki, 82, is “obsessed” with a new production from the studio.

"He's thinking about this next project every day, and I can't stop him — in fact, I've given up," Suzuki said in an interview with Liberation. "I no longer try to dissuade him, even if he were to make a failed film. In life, it's only the work that delights him."

Suzuki went on to say that not only is Miyazaki back, but the new production has made him more ‘dynamic’ than ever, even going as far as to claim that the director has already forgotten what his last film was about.

While both Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki have kept details about the new project under wraps, they have assured fans that another Miyazaki film is in the works for them to anticipate.

When is Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and The Heron’ screening at the BFI London Film Festival?

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘final’ film will be screening on October 8 and October 15 2023 as part of the BFI London Film Festival 2023 - however, both screenings have sold out.

But the film has now been given a general theatrical release date internationally, currently scheduled for December 8 2023.